Contact: Jesse Saich, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Placerville, Calif. — El Dorado Irrigation District has been awarded a $10 million grant from the California Department of Water Resource (DWR) to replace an important water conduit called the Sly Park Intertie.

Authorized by the Budget Act of 2021, the Urban and Multibenefit Drought Relief Program is one of two DWR drought relief grant programs that offers financial assistance to address drought impacts through implementation of projects with multiple benefits.

EID submitted an application for the Sly Park Intertie replacement project under Phase 1 of the program in November 2021, and Phase 1 selections were released on December 23, 2021. The Sly Park Intertie project was awarded $10 million to help fund the cost of construction.

The existing Sly Park Intertie consists of three and a half miles of 22-inch and 30-inch steel water line that connects the District’s two largest supply sources and their respective treatment facilities—Project 184 Forebay (supplied from the South Fork American River) and Sly Park Reservoir (Jenkinson Lake).

The Sly Park Intertie was built under emergency drought conditions in 1978, just after the 1976 – 1977 drought, to alleviate water shortages in Jenkinson Lake, EID’s primary drinking water reservoir. Since its emergency construction in 1978, the unlined pipeline has corroded significantly, resulting in multiple leaks throughout the pipeline that forced the District to take it out of service in 2013.

“In the past, the pipeline has played a key role in ensuring water supply delivery to thousands of people when either supply has been partially or completely unavailable as a result of extended droughts, landslides, or wildfire,” said EID Director of Engineering Brian Mueller. “With its reconstruction, EID’s ability to provide water to our customers during adverse conditions will be strengthened.”

 “The Sly Park Intertie is an important component of water supply reliability for EID’s customers and the communities we serve in times of drought and during emergencies,” said EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie. “Having this link between EID’s two major gravity water supply sources that represent two-thirds of the District’s water supply will be an enormous benefit.”

A new 24-inch pipeline will be constructed along the same alignment of the original pipeline, along with a new pump station at the Reservoir A Water Treatment Plant to facilitate bi-directional flow from both sources.

The District was also awarded $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding distributed through the County of El Dorado to help fund the cost of design and environmental permitting for the project.

Construction of the Sly Park Intertie replacement project is slated in 2024 – 2025.

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EID is a public agency dedicated to providing high quality water, wastewater treatment, recycled water, hydropower, and recreation services in an environmentally and fiscally responsible manner.